Turkey insists Kurds have no place at UN Syria talks

Date of publication: 25 01 2016, 16:19

Turkey’s foreign minister says any participation of Kurdish forces in planned Syria peace talks would be dangerous and spell the end of the U.N.-led initiative.

Mevlut Cavusoglu spoke Monday in Ankara just hours before the U.N. special envoy for Syria was to speak to media in Geneva about plans for long-awaited talks between Syrian government and opposition representatives this week.

The initiative by U.N. envoy Staffan de Mistura aims to help end a nearly 5-year war that has cost more than 250,000 lives, but has it run into delays and disputes notably over the invitation list.

Cavusoglu told reporters that Turkey considers the Syrian Kurdish forces “terrorists.” But the U.S. and others have supported them in the fight against the Islamic State group in Syria. Russia favors the Kurds’ inclusion.